However, it was only when she turned 22 that she was finally diagnosed with the condition, which will affect one in 100 people at least once in their life.

Nicola said: “I started hearing voices when I was really small, young. That’s when I started having hallucinations. It’s a long time between when I started experiencing psychosis and when I was diagnosed at 22.

“It wasn’t until I was 12 in the playground when I realised I’m completely different.

“I realised what I heard in my head and what I experienced, that not everyone experiences that. Up until then, I didn’t have a reference point and didn’t know what it’s like to not hear voices. I thought that was just how your mind works.”

Nicola is one of a number of young people who tell their story in RTE documentary Schizophrenia: The Voices in My Head.

Brian tells how he struggles with paranoia and is convinced all TV shows are aimed at him and that people can access his Facebook account.

“Before I got annoyed and everyone would see it but I learnt that I can’t lose my head. Before when I’d hear those words, I used to go mad and everyone could see it but that didn’t do me any favours because I ended up in a psychiatric hospital.”

Bethany Decourcy heard voices for much of her childhood and thought it was normal. She explained: “I’ve been hearing voices since primary school, but I took them for granted.

“Sometimes they were nice, sometimes they said mean things. They made me self-conscious. I looked okay, but inside things were going downhill.”

While most people who have schizophrenia manage their condition with medication, one Michelle told how she’s come off drugs and believes that the voices she hears aren’t necessarily harmful to her. She said: “When I went into psychiatry, the way they explained what my voices were made me fear myself even more.

“Their idea was ‘Don’t listen to them, they’re not real’. Excuse my language, but that’s total bulls***. Just because you can’t hear them doesn’t mean they’re not real. They’re real to me.

“I had a lot of violence in my life. I came from a destructive environment but those voices protected me. I did good things with them.

“Healing is to take those broken parts and put them back together, that’s like voices as well.”

Despite the negative impact the condition can have, PR worker Rita — who features in the doc — told how there can be many positives.

She said: “Getting sick wasn’t the best thing that happened me but it gave me a new appreciation. I thought I’d be a homeowner by now but that’s not my priority now. My priority is to get up every morning and live in the here and now.”